Grey’s Anatomy star departing temporarily as part of show’s cost saving measures

Fan-favorite Grey’s Anatomy star Caterina Scorsone is taking an extended break from the hit drama series.

*Major Grey’s Anatomy season spoilers to follow*

In Thursday’s episode of the ABC program, Amelia Shepard (portrayed by Scorsone) revealed that she’s taking a sabbatical from her job as a neurosurgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Amelia’s decision came amid grief, after her colleague Monica Beltran (played by Natalie Morales), with whom she had a slow-burning romance, was killed during the season 22 premiere following an explosion in the hospital. The tank that exploded, which was brought in by Amelia’s patient’s mother, also resulted in the father of Amelia’s son, Atticus Lincoln (portrayed by Chris Carmack), getting severely injured.

When Amelia announced her sabbatical, fans online were quick to question if she was leaving the show. However, Deadline has reported that this is not the case and that she’ll only be absent from the next eight episodes of the season.

Scorsone’s hiatus comes after Deadline reported that Grey’s Anatomy — created by Shonda Rhimes — reduced its minimum guarantees for longtime cast members to be in 14 episodes a season instead of 18. The decision is ultimately a result of cost-saving measures used by several series, the publication reported.

The measure also resulted in several long-tenured cast members’ absences from four episodes of the season.

Some of the show’s longest-running cast members include Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr., who’ve been on the series since it first aired in 2005. Ellen Pompeo, who plays the titular character Meredith Grey, has been on the series since 2005, but stopped being a full-time cast member in 2023. Meanwhile, Kevin McKidd has been on the show since season five.

The Independent has contacted a representative for ABC for comment.

Amelia was first introduced to Grey’s Anatomy in season seven, as Derek Shepard’s (portrayed by Patrick Dempsey) younger sister. Prior to that, she was featured in the medical drama’s spin-off show, Private Practice, also created by Rhimes.

During Grey’s Anatomy’s 11th season, which was Scorsone’s first as a series regular, Amelia struggles with her grief after Derek, who was married to Meredith, died in a car crash.

In the more recent seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, like seasons 20 and 21, Amelia develops a crush on Monica and asks her out. Although Monica originally says no, since she’s going through a divorce, the two doctors later become good friends and often flirt with each other.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the program’s showrunner, Meg Marinis, said she wanted Monica to die during the explosion to explore how death would impact Amelia.

“While Amelia was so centered in that storyline at the end of last season with Piper [Perabo]’s character and with the child [in the season 21 finale], I wanted for us to believe that everything was kind of OK for Amelia after we saved Link’s [Chris Carmack] life. I also really wanted to deliver consequences of Amelia taking on all these impossible surgeries,” she said about Amelia’s ex, Link, nearly dying during the explosion.

“As Amelia mentions in the episode, she lost her father at a very young age and that really propelled the way her life went.”

New episodes of season 22 of Grey’s Anatomy air Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.